It's not raining, but everything is just a little bit damp as we dress for the ride. Pulling on damp socks, damp armour and helmets gives you that icky feeling, but it has to be done. But once underway you don't notice.
Once again a brief blast along an asphalt road then up into the hills. After some nice flowing logging road trails, we eventually reach a tricky incline that we climbed a few days ago, but it doesn't seem as daunting as when we first did it. We've navigated more difficult paths since then and reset the bar on what's possible - that's why we come on such trips.
At the top of the climb Bobo finds a clearing on a slight slope. He teaches us the technique of doing a U-turn by spinning the rear wheel, both off and on the bike. On my first attempt nothing much happens except the engine gunning uncontrollably and the bike and me both ending up sideways on the ground, me still holding the handlebars and waving my legs in the air like a cochineal beetle.
Then we learn to compress the suspension and use the rebound to bounce ourselves to standing on the seats, which also lifts the bikes slightly. The theory is that, applied at the right time, such compression and rebound can help us to get the bikes over obstacles. We bounce well, but it doesn't quite translate into clearing the 10cm diameter log with the grace of a gazelle. We try, but again, it's not quite perfected - something to try on a R1250GS while riding the Barnoldswick bypass perhaps?
The rain has held off and this exertion is hard work, helmets off during the gaps between on bike action and the steam rises from red hot heads.
Romaniac Bobo demonstrates his gazelle technique on an ancient angled slab lying next to a long overgrown ruin of a concrete structure. He leaps up the slab and lands confidently on the concrete base at about head height before circling to do it all over again. At one point he leads me over to show me the technique as if it's our next challenge. I'm almost ready to do it, but no, after a few more circuits of the micro-log challenge, I decide I'm not ready... The boys breath a sigh of relief.
He shows us a few other useful skills for clearing obstacles, but is sensible enough not to suggest we try any. After riding the trails over the last few days we've started to think we are more competent off-road riders, but this just shows us that in reality we are still almost complete off-road novices.
Then, lesson over, we're back on the trail and entering a meadow we finally get some long range views and see Sibiu in the far distance in the valley floor. Although the cloud had moved in by the time this picture was taken.
There's a flock of sheep nearby and a rag-tag group of dogs, old and young, chase Bobo barking madly. They seem very earnest about driving us interlopers away, but their aggression melts when the bikes are stopped and they look away sheepishly. As soon as the bikes are started again they resume their barking as if to say, 'see, we scared you away'.
We traverse along the grass slope being careful not to break traction on the slippy surface, it's always surprising the grip these tyres are capable of finding, but a careless throttle is punished with no mercy.
A bit further on we enter a wooded area and it becomes very narrow and strewn with old branches. For whatever reason Bobo chooses to turn around and go back the same way. This causes carnage as nearly all the bikes end up on their sides mine included and I'm stopped from rolling down the hill by a tree. Fallen branches from the same tree prevent me from riding back up to the path as the back wheel spins uselessly on the slippery silver birch bark when I try to get moving. I was only slightly comforted by the fact that Bobo also had the same problem moving my bike, but applied his other skills to extricate my machine.
The way back seems more challenging and I lose my balance on the approach to a muddy curve and in doing so end up on the slightly downhill path heading into the trees rather than the pathway out, which complicates my exit. Danny and Steve manage without difficulty by taking a slightly higher route that avoids the dragons in my way.
Sometimes it seems luck plays a big part in our success or not. At another very muddy moment Ray and Danny get stuck by taking the wrong route and/or not applying the gas at the right time or not enough. Ray and Steve pull Danny out. I ask Bobo if it's painful watching us beginners flounder at such moments, he laughs.
We're not far from base now, but it's still a relatively difficult muddy track down to the village. It seems to go on forever and how is there so much mud? The Inuit famously have many words for different types of snow, I'm sure enduro riders must have words for the many different types of mud. This type was clay-like and slippery like "snot mixed with diesel" but we're better able to manage these conditions now.
Then before we know it we're straight back in the village again, no asphalt needed. The enduro trails really are in the backyard of the farmhouse.
As we arrive back in the farmhouse it starts raining and we hear thunder in the distance. For once we've avoided it!
The bikes are hosed down and cleaned properly. This gives the organisers a chance to assess the damage we've done.
In practice the KTM, GasGas and Husqvarna bikes are pretty robust. They are essentially the same KTM based 300cc two-stroke bikes with a few subtle differences. They are about 100kg each, about half the weight of bikes I normally ride and have long travel suspension and the high power to weight ratio needed to climb steep slopes and generally tear around the forests here - perfect for the conditions. Quite impressed, but they do take a lot of maintenance.
A BBQ for dinner and our hosts treat us to fine Romanian fare and locally caught trout. Charlie congratulates for surviving the hard riding made harder by the rain. After dinner we chat, swap stories and discuss what songs to accompany our many video; not surprisingly rain is the theme... Have You Ever Seen the Rain, I Can't Stand the Rain, It's Raining on Prom Night, Set Fire to the Rain, Shadows in the Rain,.. you get the #Drift.
Only 37km today. Tomorrow we are due to collect road bikes to do a four day road tour of the Carpathians, which will include the Transalpina Pass, the Transfagasaran Highway (if open), Bram Castle (of Dracula fame), and several picturesque castles. It's quite an ambitious itinery and I hope the four of us (Ray is heading back early - safe landing, Ray!..) are able to keep up with the schedule.
1 comment:
You guys are all heroes.
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